I think she hates me...

[jrobinson]

I dont think my new freind likes me very much... I just recently (this past sunday) purchaced my fist Milk Snake Phase corn snake, about 3 months old... see http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18613 for details...i attempted to handle her latnight. and she spent her whole time coiling up and striking at me, is this normal for a thatching, she wouldnt let me touch her at all, everytime i touched her, she either slithered away or struck at my hand.... am i doing something wrong? any advice is greatly appreciated...

 

[princess]

The littlies can sometimes be a bit snappy but I suggest you use this time to get her thotoughly used to you. At this point she has the tiniest little teeth that won't actually hurt if she does latch on so you won't be as worried as if she was a full grown adult so your response to her striking won't be as bad as if she was big. This from her perspective (at this size) will show har that you're not scared and so she'll figure out that it's not worth the trouble trying to eat you! It's the same way Elephants are trained. When they're young, they're tied up with heavy chains and they figure out they can't get away, then when they're older they are on lighter chains that they could actually break but they remember that they tried in the past and couldn't get away, so they don't bother. None of my babies have actually been nasty to me but even the flightiest have settled a whole lot. Good luck, Adèle

Oh, and remember, it doesn't have to be 'active' handling, you can just let her sit in your sleeve while you watch TV and she'll most likely find it OK.

 

[mbdorfer]

Princess is right, The little babies can be quite intimidating at times. It is normal for them to defend themselves against the large beast(your hand) coming at them. Just turn your head and let her strike, you won't feel any "pain", then pick her up. Try to hold her until she calms down, this helps her to "learn" you are not a threat. After a short period she will probably stop striking at you.

 

[reptile_addict]

I had this problem with Fluffy as a hatchling. He would his and rattle his tail while striking over and over again. I held him in the morning for 15 minutes before school amd for 15 at night each day. He calmed in less than 1 week!!! I also did this to my blood and I can pick him up with little to no hissing and no striking!!!

 

[Sisuitl]

She's attacking because she's afraid you're going to eat her. If you handle her regularly like everyone is saying, she will learn it's not the case and calm down a lot. My little ones that aren't comfortable spend a lot of time in my sleeve getting used to my smell while I do stuff like....browse cornsnakes.com, heh heh.

Anyway, I don't know if it's necessary, but I put strong smelling lotion on my hands before handling my snakes (Burt's Bees milk and honey). It has the effect of making my smell instantly recognizable, so the large blurry pink thing isn't considered a threat once they know me even if they don't recognize my hand right away, and I never have had problems with my hands being mistaken for food since I started doing that. It is something you might want to be careful of too, I know some people have observed snakes having angry reactions to certain types of soaps and detergents, so some lotions may bother them.

 

[Dayoh]

I also almost always use the same lotion just before i hold my snakes, it would seem to me that they would recognize the smell and know its okay. You have to show the snake your not scared. Pick her up and hold her. Good luck

 

[Chip]

I promise they calm down. This is the second "biting" post today I've put this picture on, apologies. But they neither hurt nor startle you once you get used to it. This little guy was one of the meanest I ever produced. He's a perfectly normal 2 year old corn now, except that he will always rattle. He gave up on biting, though!